The iPhone has more apps than the Droid phone and is a bit thinner, but it lacks a physical keyboard, arguably an inferior screen, a worse camera, no support for Flash, and a lack of true multitasking, forcing app backgrounding. Apple is reportedly planning a price cut on a reduced memory iPhone 3GS (8 GB) to try to stay competitive.

Apple once again is challenged in the smartphone arena

While the Blackberry is currently the
bestselling
smartphone, thanks largely to a strong core of business users,
sales numbers indicate the iPhone dominates the multimedia
entertainment phone market. Verizon's Droid
phone, which launched on Friday, may change that as it looks to
be solid competitor to the iPhone in many ways.

Droid ships
with a 16 GB microSD card, but is expandable up to 32 GB, allowing it
to match the highest-capacity iPhone 3GS (which does not have
expandable memory). The phone is ever-so-slightly thicker than
the iPhone, at 13.7 mm (vs. 12 mm for the iPhone 3GS). It also
packs a slide-out physical keyboard, which some customers
prefer.

Droid also has a better camera (5.0 megapixels vs. 3.0
megapixels on the iPhone), a dual LED flash (the iPhone has no camera
flash), and a nicer screen. The Droid's screen bests the
iPhone's both in pixel density and size (3.7" and 265 ppi for
Droid, 3.5" and 185 ppi for the iPhone). It also bests the
iPhone in battery capacity (1400 mAh v. 1219 mAh), though the
actually operating battery life has not been extensively benchmarked
versus the iPhone. Like the iPhone, Droid features multi-touch
technology, something Apple claims to hold
a copyright on and reportedly strong-armed
Google out of with the original Android operating system.
And like the Palm Pre, true multitasking is supported.

Other
advantages include its support of Adobe Flash (allowing full-fledged
internet browsing), a technology that Apple
has rejected. It also compares favorably with the iPhone on
price, coming in at $200 after $100 mail-in rebate with a new
contract, versus $199
(with plan) for a 16 GB iPhone 3GS, or $299 for a 32 GB iPhone
3GS.

Along with the launch of the new phone on Friday came
official details on its tethering plan. Like the Blackberry
Storm 2 and several other Verizon handsets, Droid phones indeed have
an option to serve as a mobile internet connection for your PC and
laptop at home or on the go.

One of the long standing
complaints about the iPhone is that AT&T still doesn't offer
tethering services with it in the U.S. While tethering may
soon
be in sight, as it is supported by the current version of OS X
software on the iPhone, many wonder how much longer they will have to
wait. Some of these users are now eying Droid, as tethering is
now officially available for it.

The phone's tethering costs
are similar to Verizon's other 3G phone tethering offers,
reportedly. For any user with a qualifying handset, they pay a
maximum of $50 per month for 5GB of data transfer. Most users
have access to a $30 per month rate, if they have the Unlimited
Wireless Email, Email and Web for Smartphone Feature or Plan,
Nationwide Premium Plan and others -- which nearly all Verizon's
smart phone customers opt for.

Customers with Verizon's
$79.99 per month PDA/Smartphone
Nationwide Email plan get a nice perk -- the ability to pick up
tethering for only $15 per month. Customers jumping on
tethering should be careful, though, overages (after the first 5120
MB) run at 5 cents per MB, or $51.20 per GB.

The tethering
option at $30 per month, while not overly cheap (it doubles Droid's
$30 data fee), does stack up nicely compared to Verizon's wireless
broadband cards, which also use the telecom's 3G network. These
cards, available in USB and PC Card forms (typically free or at
minimal cost after rebate) are offered with plans of 250MB of data
for $40 a month (10 cents per MB overages) or 5 GB for $60 per month
(5 cents per MB overages). The only other apparent downside of
choosing tethering on Droid or Verizon's other phones is that it may
prove a significant drain your phone battery when in use.

While
there are many upsides to Verizon customers when it comes to the
Droid phone, one downside is its app marketplace. There
reportedly are a bit over 10,000 apps in the Droid marketplace, while
Apple's marketplace just surpassed 100,000. As mentioned, the
iPhone also manages a close win in thickness and additionally the iPhone 3GS processor, an 800 MHz Arm processor underclocked to 600 MHz, slightly bests Droid's processor, which is a 550 MHz Arm processor. However, with
Droid trumping the iPhone 3GS in many other areas, Apple is
reportedly a bit spooked. According to Boy Genius Report,
the Cupertino giant is considering a $99
8 GB iPhone 3GS in time for the holiday season.

Comments

Threshold

Username

Password

remember me

This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled